The gaming industry is perhaps one of the most fertile areas for game innovation in an attempt to continue to stimulate players to encourage them to play. While creativity is quite high, the attrition rate for games can also be high if the game is not accepted by consumers. It has also been found that by providing a game which offers large jackpots, play can also be stimulated.
One strategy in maintaining consumer interest is to stimulate play by offering large, progressively accumulated awards. Progressive type machines are example of such two tiered systems where the players are encouraged to achieve an extraordinary payout while playing a primary game. It has been observed that after the extraordinary payout occurs, participation in the underlying game decreases abruptly.
Marnell II, U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,057 shows use of a video poker game or reel-type slot machine for the primary game and a bingo type game as a secondary game. Certain outcomes from the primary game are reflected in the second game bingo card and, upon the occurrence of obtaining outcomes from the first game which are reflected in the second game in a predetermined pattern resulting in a bingo, a secondary award is made to one or more players responsible for obtaining the bingo.
Another game presently used includes a primary game, such as a presentation of a multiple reel-type slot machine. A player makes a wager to play the primary game. If the player obtains one or more designated symbols on the pay line for the machine, a secondary reel is activated which selects the award to the player. In these games, the outcomes of the primary and second games are, basically, randomly selected. The player is offered no semblance of an opportunity to effect the outcome of the second game.
In another game which has heretofore been provided, an electronic game is provided wherein the primary game is video poker. The player makes a wager and initiates play of the primary game whereupon representations of five playing cards are displayed at the game display. The player can select none, one or all of the cards to save. Once the selection has been made, the player draws whereupon the processor for the device replaces any discarded cards with replacement cards to define an outcome for the primary game. The outcome obtained in the primary game is sensed and compared to stored data representing winning primary game outcomes. If no winning outcome is sensed, the player's wager is lost and retained by the machine. If the outcome matches one of the primary game winning outcomes, the player is rewarded according to an established pay table. When a winning outcome is obtained, the machine offers the player an opportunity to double their reward by optionally participating in a secondary game. If the player opts to participate, the processor selects from a data registry containing data representing each card of a deck of 52 cards, data representing five cards. The selected cards are displayed as one card face up, denoted as the dealer's card, and four cards face down. The player must select one of the face down cards, the player's card, which he believes when revealed will outrank the dealer's card. By using selection buttons the player makes the selection whereupon the processor is prompted to reveal the value of the selected card and compares it to the dealer's card. If the player's card outranks the dealer's card, the player's initial reward is doubled. If it is a tie ranking, there is no action and the primary game reward is neither lost nor doubled. If the player's card is of a lesser ranking, the primary game reward is forfeited.
The above games suffer from several drawbacks. One is that these games cannot offer, for the secondary game, large jackpots. Further, there is no feature of giving the player selection opportunities in the second game. Thus, the player cannot feel that they can control their destiny by making correct or "lucky" selections. Further, in many of these games the player must risk the reward from the primary game to participate. If they lose the secondary game, they lose their reward obtained from the primary game. What is needed is a device and method which provides for play of a primary game during which the player has presented, from time to time, a secondary game offering the player the chance to obtain a high, secondary reward, offering the player further opportunities of choice and which does not risk any reward obtained during the play of the primary game.